Deodhar Trophy: Parag's fiery ton, Murasingh's five-for help East Zone thrash West Zone by 157 runs

Puducherry: A second century in the Deodhar Trophy for Riyan Parag (102) and a superb five-wicket haul for Manisankar Murasingh fired East Zone to a massive 157 run victory over the West Zone here on Tuesday. After Parag’s blitzkrieg 102 not out off just 68 balls, studded with five sixes and six fours powered the East Zone to a huge 319/7 in their 50 overs, Murasingh ran riot in the West Zone ranks to help his side to a huge win. Chasing 320, the West Zone side was shot out for a mere 162 in 34 overs with the 30-year-old Tripura all-rounder Murasingh returning a stunning spell of 7-1-28-5. Utkarsh Singh also played an all-round role by scoring a half-century and taking three wickets. For the losing side, Saurashtra opener Harvik Desai waged a lone battle, scoring 92 (92 balls, 13x4s, 2x6s), but his effort went in vain as Murasingh broke the back of their chase. The right-arm medium fast bowler Murasingh struck his first, crucial blow in the fifth over when he pinned Rahul Tripathi (1) in front of the wickets. Earlier, Akash Deep had removed Samarth Vyas (12) in the third over. Murasingh piled up further misery on Sarfaraz Khan who has been struggling for form and runs when he cleaned up the Mumbai batter for a mere nine-ball three in the seventh over. West Zone slipped further when No 5 batter Kathan Patel was caught by Parag off Murasingh in the ninth over. The outcome of the contest was almost sealed in favour of the East Zone when Murasingh struck once again, taking a return catch off Shivam Dube’s bat to send him back for a five-ball duck, in the 12th over. Shams Mulani (12) and Atit Sheth (18) tried to delay the inevitable in the company of Desai, but their resistance did not last long. Utkarsh then chipped in with a measly spell of 5-1-16-3, maintaining his team’s dominance in the contest. West Zone captain Priyank Panchal suffered an injury during the game and could only bat at No 11. In the first half of the game, Parag stole the show with his second century in last three matches while Utkarsh and Kumar Kushagra struck vital fifties. The left-handed Utkarsh scored 50 (52 balls, 7x4s) his second fifty in the competition but Abhimanyu Easwaran perished for 38 at the top. Virat Singh made a fine 42 at No 3 but Rishav Das (3) and captain Saurabh Tiwary (13) were dismissed cheaply as East Zone were placed precariously at 157 for five at one stage. But for the second time in the Deodhar Trophy, the pair of Parag and Kushagra (53 from 47 balls, 4x6s) came to East Zone’s rescue. The two batters put on 150 runs for the sixth wicket to revive East Zone once again on Tuesday, having done so earlier in the competition when they amassed 235 runs for the sixth wicket against the North Zone. The win took East Zone to the second spot in the points table, and they are now tied with table-toppers South Zone with 16 points each. Markande, Rana shine as North Zone crush North East Zone by 9 wickets North Zone produced a dominating allround display to hand North East Zone a crushing nine-wicket loss in Puducherry on Tuesday. After bowling out North East Zone for a mere 101 in 32.1 overs, the North Zone team knocked off the target in 12.5 overs, scoring 102 for the loss of one wicket. Spinner Mayank Markande and pacer Mayank Yadav shared seven wickets between them after North East Zone won the toss and elected to bat. Markande returned with impressive figures of 9.1-1-14-4, while Yadav took 3 for 21 from his six overs to rip apart the North East Zone batting line-up, ably supported by seamers Vaibhav Arora, Rishi Dhawan and left-arm orthodox spinner Nishant Sindhu, who all chipped in with one wicket apiece. Arora made an early breakthrough when he cleaned up North East Zone opener Ashish Thapa for a duck, and their other opener Palzor Tamang was caught behind the wickets by Prabhsimran Singh for 10 off Dhawan. North East Zone’s Larry Sangma was Markande’s first wicket in the 12th over. But the biggest breakthrough for the legbreak bowler came towards the end when he ended North East Zone captain Langlonyamba Meitan Keishangbam’s resistance for a 69-ball 36 their highest individual score. Yadav ran through North East Zone’s lower-middle order, dismissing Kangabam Priyojit (1), Kamsha Yangfo (0) and Rex Rajkumar (1) in quick succession to have them reeling at 61 for six in the 17th over. Markande got two more wickets towards the end to complete his four-wicket haul. North Zone were jolted early when their opener Shubham Khajuria was run out in the third over for six, but the pair of Prabhsimran and Himanshu Rana joined forces to finish the job. Prabhsimran struck seven fours and a six in a brisk 35-ball 40 not out, while Rana was more aggressive than his partner, smacking nine fours and a six to reach 52 not out off 33 balls when the winning runs were hit. Prabhsimran and Rana put on an unbeaten 93-run stand for the second wicket, with the North East Zone using as many as six bowling options but to no avail. The win was only their second in five matches for North Zone in the 50-over competition, taking them to the fourth spot in the points table whereas North East Zone, who have lost all their five games, are languishing at the bottom. With inputs from PTI